Apparently the AP received the same couple of paragraphs from the White House about Bush's speech tonight that we did. However, we didn't bother to use their Press Release to write an article about a speech that hasn't yet occured. And to write it as if it already did occur! The AP, however, has done exactly that.

And they say we're too tough on the Mainstream Corporate Media for merely repeating instead of reporting...Give us a break!

UPDATE: The complete White House Press Release, from earlier today, is below so you can compare it to the article as run by AP...

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Fort Bragg, North Carolina)
_________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 28, 2005

Speech Excerpts from President Bush's Address to the Nation
As Prepared for Delivery

Tonight, President Bush will address the Airborne and Special Operations Forces at Ft. Bragg to mark the one year anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. The President will address the violence in Iraq and will answer the fundamental question on the minds of the American people:

"The work in Iraq is difficult and dangerous. Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying - and the suffering is real. Amid all this violence, I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country. And tonight I will explain the reasons why."

While acknowledging that the new Iraqi government and coalition forces have experienced tough fighting and suicide bombings, the President will explain why the terrorists are failing:
"The terrorists can kill the innocent - but they cannot stop the advance of freedom. The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11 ... if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi ... and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like Bin Laden."

After detailing both our military and political strategy in Iraq, the President will provide the American people with a broader, strategic understanding of the stakes in Iraq, the enemy we face, and why he's optimistic the Iraqi people and coalition forces will prevail:

"We have more work to do, and there will be tough moments that test America's resolve. We are fighting against men with blind hatred - and armed with lethal weapons - who are capable of any atrocity. They wear no uniform; they respect no laws of warfare or morality. They take innocent lives to create chaos for the cameras. They are trying to shake our will in Iraq - just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001. They will fail. The terrorists do not understand America. The American people do not falter under threat - and we will not allow our future to be determined by car bombers and assassins."

2 week ago AP writer Becky Boher reported a Bushit story where a Mr. Chris Servheen from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (government is paying his check) announced the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear is doing so well we can now delist it from the endangered specie list. Without repeating my old post, this is a complete and total lie. Wyoming moved to delist the bear last monday 6-20-2005. The real truth is that the Yellowstone Grizzly is suffering from being inbred because the Yellowstone population of brown bears is isolated from the remaining 8 barely holding on populations in the lower 48 states. Bear experts in Montana have notice some peculiar behaviors and narrowing of the distance between their eyes. The active adult males want to get the hell out of Yellowstone and are being killed. That is the actual underlying plan behind delisting. There are less than 1000 bears in 4 states not including Alaska and 51 were killed last year. Human land aquisition and developement bebe. The truth is the Grizzly is worse off now than when it was originally placed on the endanged species list in 1973 and all real (legitimate) experts agree that delisting is the incorrect move. If Yellowstone loses just 3 breeder females, the whole things gonna come crashing down even faster. NRDC Wild Bear Project Director Louisa Willcox has a plan that could reconnect the Yellowstone population with the Glacier Park bears however we must act now. For information: www.dc.org or call 406 222-9561 Why does the Grizzly Bear matter?

One of the last vestiges of the wild west. Solitary and fiecely independent, embodying nature beyond the control of man. An animal more sensitive than any other Northern Rockies Species and thus a barometer of the whole ecosystem. Vulnerable to extinction due to the size and isolation of remaining populations, low reproductive rates and development of wildland habitat. Helps keep the food chain healthy and intact. The focus of enormous public interest which helps boost the economies increasingly tied to opportunities to view wildlife and experience wild country.
Last of all, my name is Grizzly Dancer. You must understand that American Indians know the Grizzly Bear as the most powerful animal in the spiritual kingdom. Hibernation is still a mystery. Please help.

Meh, its always done like that. Leastways over here, you'll get stories in the morning papers saying "Blair will today say X Y Z. He is expceted to emphasise thsi particular aspect" and so on.

However they are not usually done with descriptions of the event! (Such as "In an evening address at an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq, Bush was acknowledging the toll of the 27-month-old war").

Anyway, can we consider this an OT for the speech... but somehow I get teh feeling I'm the only one here... AND ALREADY HE'S MENTION 911! In the first fucking paragraph!

Either way, it will be interesting to see how the speech is evaluated. In case you missed it elsewhere, here's the criteria I'm using, and I share it with you so you may be equally amused: [ More . . . ]

My take on it is Bush knows that he did this illegally but think its still for the right reasons and he will stop the bad guys. But Bush doesn't understand the massive suffering going on in that country. Zaraqui and those men aren't the enemy anymore.

American soldiers are, all because they've stripped the Iraqi government of its sovereignty. And we have a coalition of forces who protect OIL, rather than lives. That is what is dispicable about this war. And no amount of painting it a different way will help, Dick Cheney has done his damage.

Hi, Doug #15 - My take on it is Bush knows that he did this illegally, but he doesn't give a damn and believes he will get away with it, like he has everything his entire life...being the son of a rich man has its benefits. Unfortunately, it has cost him his integrity and decency, and the lives of thousands of innocents...I call that murder!

Ahhhh..
Gotta love those "benefit-of-the-doubt" democrats, always conceding and postulating. Worked really good at putting the breaks on that phony Iraq war they wanted to do. Worked even better at keeping those naziesque extremists out of the White House in '00 & '04. . Ooh...right.. that didn't work out did it.

Only problem is there is no "right reason" for either going to war in Iraq or staying in Iraq, unless you count turning the entire region into an unstable terrorist recruiting camp in the name of oil rights a good reason. Bush knows that it was illegal and for all the WRONG reasons. It was cute when everyone called him "curious george" and all that, but the gigs up, and we know Bush is the closest thing to a domestic terrorist we have. He kept saying "remember 9/11", and ooh, I do. I remember that if he knowingly lied to start a war in which thousands died, then its not crazy to insinuate that he saw political gain in the thousands of deaths that occured on 9/11. But lets just all forget the rabid terrorist that runs the country. After all, his ears kinda remind me a chimp. And we all know chimps don't plot the deaths of thousand for personal & political profit.

Ahhhh..
Gotta love those "benefit-of-the-doubt" democrats, always conceding and postulating. Worked really good at putting the breaks on that phony Iraq war they wanted to do. Worked even better at keeping those naziesque extremists out of the White House in '00 & '04. . Ooh...right.. that didn't work out did it.

Only problem is there is no "right reason" for either going to war in Iraq or staying in Iraq, unless you count turning the entire region into an unstable terrorist recruiting camp in the name of oil rights a good reason. Bush knows that it was illegal and for all the WRONG reasons. It was cute when everyone called him "curious george" and all that, but the gigs up, and we know Bush is the closest thing to a domestic terrorist we have. He kept saying "remember 9/11", and ooh, I do. I remember that if he knowingly lied to start a war in which thousands died, then its not crazy to insinuate that he saw political gain in the thousands of deaths that occured on 9/11. But lets just all forget the rabid terrorist that runs the country. After all, his ears kinda remind me a chimp. And we all know chimps don't plot the deaths of thousand for personal & political profit.

In empires, the empiricists make the rules. There is no higher power, like a World Court or a United Nations. Louis XIV, I believe it was, spoke for all power-mad despots by saying, "L'etat c'est moi."

What's often overlooked is the inherent racism of empires. British colonials knew they had to "save the dark-skinned savages from themselves," in India, Burma, Sudan, Arabia. Likewise the French in Algeria, the Dutch in Indonesia, and the Spanish in Mexico and Florida all thought of themselves as liberators.

When Bush connects 9/11 with Iraq, he's really saying, "All those dirty Muslims are alike." No matter how many times he's reminded, "There was never a connection between Iraq and Osama bin Laden," he persists in making one. Of course, his ignorant supporters in the red states, with an average I.Q. of maybe 90, can't find Iraq on a map, have never met a Muslim, know nothing about the history of Iraq/Mesopotamia or the Ottoman Empire, never heard of the Crusades, and are told by their fundamentalist preachers that Israel was promised a Zion in Palestine by the one true God, so they accept Bush's lies without cavil.

"THEY attacked us." An Arabian terrorist and a Sunni Muslim insurgent are both part of THEY, even though they have nothing in common but dark skin and the Koran. "We're fighting THEM there so THEY can't attack us here."

George W. Bush, semi-literate master of the racist pronoun and leader of the new American Empire.

Hey Guys just had a notion here. I am going to start working on it but bloggers please help with your recollection of events.

Perhaps we should focus on the "facts being fixed around the policy" in more than just Iraq.

For example global warming. The reports or facts were being fixed around the policy of the Bush Administration.

For Example, the no-child left behind act.

For example, social security, the facts being fixed around his policy.

For example, the ban on gay marriage, no facts available, but moral guidance that is one sided is a fixed justification.

This administration does not seek debate, it has a pre-determined position on everything and then finds a way to justify it.

Let apply the "facts being fixed around the policy" test to every aspect both domestically and foreign policy wise and see if perhaps there is more evidence that supports the "notion" that the administration works like that no matter what the subject is.

Re: #20 Charles --- Another blatant example
of "facts being fixed around policy" is the alteration of the report on cattle grazing on public lands in order to ease the rules.

It's all about "making reality" which, of course, is almost in the realm of psychosis. More fossil fuel burning will create greater global warming. That reality can't be altered. Over-grazing will harm the land and water quality, and they can delete paragraphs of environmental reports if they want and it won't alter the fact. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and it never will no matter how many times they say it.

"Making reality" without reference to facts is nothing more than lying and acting stupidly. There is really no philosophical position involved. The result and "reality" is low-grade gangsterism.

As well as a racist "they", there is also a need for a culture of vagueness. Isn't it very strange that over 1700 Americans have been killed and 100,000+ Iraqis in an unconstitutional invasion, yet so much of the "justification" is not analyzed? All someone would have to do is say, "You keep identifying the Iraq invasion with 9/11. What *precisely* is the connection that would justify the slaughter?" Yet the quagmire continues, the killing continues, and we never get an answer to a very simple question that is supposed to be the reason we are there. (There is no answer, of course.) It is very strange.

Unstated racism is what holds it together. Racism and fear. (As Gore Vidal said, Americans are the most easily scared people in the world.) Racism and fear (as a unified entity) bars understanding and specifics with which it cannot exist. (Understanding the real people of Iraq, for example.) In fact, specifics could well reveal a monstrously immoral, murderous face of our corporate/government (and its enablers) - another reason to avoid specifics and another facet of the pervasive fear.

It's late, I'm tired, and I'm not saying this well, but I think one of the reasons there is such a out-of-proportion reaction to dissent is that there is a panic that the culture of vagueness (which many people are holding on for life) will be destroyed or crippled by revelatory specifics. It's not us they hate. It's specifics!

Hi All You Great Americans! Superb thread - I'll link it along to some acquaintances, be assured. Currently professionally and personally overwhelmed here in Prague, I've only been able to peek in here occasionally, but I'm so pleased to see the great intelligence, persistence, and diligence (thank you, especially, Brad!) with which we pitbull/Bradvillers refuse to just let it all go. We've got more than enough goods on these miscreants. I think it's time to seriously consider laying a full siege on the Capitol until those megalocriminals are led off in irons for a tropical vacation, replete with ice cream, candy, and honey-glazed chicken - imagine duhbya being deprived of his beloved Bible because some Ayrab peed on it... Keep up the fine work! Keep the faith! The Red Sox finally won it all, and so can We The People of Bradville Nation!!! Love and Peace, and "God bless us every one!"
PS I'd love to show off my magnificent adopted metropolis to any Bradviller who happens to be just passing through!